Natural Cleaning Products around the Household

In my last post about Installing Double Glazed Windows Can Help to Reduce Energy, I mentioned natural cleaning products that can keep your home nice and clean, and it got me thinking about what other ingredients could help your home fresh without having to take a trip down to your local supermarket. So it inspired me to write a little more on the subject.

When I was younger, I can remember coming home from school to walk into my house smelling of bleach everywhere. I couldn’t escape from it. The smell would burn my nose and cause my eyes to water, it was that strong. Plus my mum would only clean the house from top to bottom when she was mad, so I knew at that point, to stay out of her way.

My mum would have more cleaning products in the house than a 99p store had to offer. She had everything from spray bottles for cleaning your windows, to limescale remover for the shower. There were even some products that I never knew existed.

Strange thing was, when I would go round my grandmother’s house her house always smelled so fresh and clean, yet there was hardly any bleach around to be seen, which was a blessing for my poor nostrils.

She would always have two old dishcloths lying on the floor in the kitchen, so when she was walking around cleaning, she would step on the dishcloths and clean the floor as she went. I used to think she was as mad as a hatter, but it wasn’t until I asked her about it that she said “As I walk around the kitchen cleaning, I use the dishcloths to polish the floor as I go about.” Luckily, her kitchen floor was tiled so it made sense. If she had carpet then I would have thought she had lost the plot.

She would always have the lemon juice, vinegar and baking soda on hand to help her clean. She even had a small tub of natural beeswax to clean the big wooden table she had at the other end of the kitchen. She said that she found all the other cleaning products too harsh to use on the table. Saying that though, she didn’t mind using furniture polish once in a while, but she couldn’t use it for too long as it would irritate her skin.

I never used to mind helping her clean the house as I wouldn’t have to worry about the smell or getting bleach on my clothes and staining them.

Because vinegar naturally cleans like an all-purpose cleaner (do not use on marble and always dilute, as vinegar is acidic and can eat away at the tile grout) and the smell disappears when it dries, it’s ideal to use it in most parts of the house. It’s perfect for bathrooms, kitchens and laundry rooms. Did you know that vinegar can be used as a natural fabric softener? Nope neither did I!

Lemon juice is another natural substance that can be used to clean your home and can be used to dissolve soap scum and hard water deposits. It can be mixed with baking soda to make cleaning pastes. All you need to do is cut a lemon in half and sprinkle baking soda on the cut section. Use the lemon to scrub dishes, surfaces, and stains. You can even mix 1 cup olive oil with ½ cup lemon juice and you have a furniture polish for your hardwood furniture! How amazing is that? By doing this, you have already reduced your normal collection of cleaning products by half!

With baking soda it can be used to scrub surfaces in much the same way as commercial abrasive cleansers. It’s also a great alternative for a deodorizer instead of using those deodorizing sprays you see in adverts.

Another great household product to use is either toothpaste or mayonnaise. Why I hear you ask? Simple. If you have water marks (rings) on your wood coffee tables or wood furniture in general, then just rub a small amount of toothpaste/ mayo on the ring until it disappears and then just wipe off with a dry rag. Job done!

If you have the 3 main ingredients in your household then the possibilities for cleaning your house are endless!

Perhaps you have other great ideas about cleaning your house which won’t break the bank? Let us know and we will post them on our blog.